American qualifier Nicole Gibbs needed just 50 minutes to dispatch Czech qualifier Tereza Smitkova 6-0, 6-2 on a rainy Tuesday at the 2016 Shenzhen Open. Gibbs will play the winner of the match between sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard and Donna Vekic next.
Flawless Opening Set from Gibbs
The first set was all Gibbs; the American worked all parts of the court to counter and create her own pace, leaving a shell shocked Smitkova helpless as she won the opening set 6-0 in 19 minutes. Never facing a break point on her own serve and converting three of her four break point opportunities, Gibbs was also incredibly efficient behind her first serve, winning 82% of the points behind her first delivery.
Gibbs Closes Out the Match in Style
The first five games of the final set followed the same pattern as the first as Smitkova couldn’t do anything against an on-song Gibbs, who was clearly hitting a great ball after putting in countless hours of hard work during the off-season. Despite putting up some resistance, the Czech was unable to string together any consistency to get on the board, and was on the verge of getting served a double bagel five days into the new season. However, after going down 6-0, 5-0, Smitkova began to swing for the fences, and it paid off. Breaking at love, the world number 125 was on the board after nearly forty minutes of being blown right off the court. A lengthy 16-point game followed suit and despite holding three match points, the American qualifier was unable to get over the line, thus giving her Czech counterpart another chance to prolong her stay in Shenzhen. However, after dropping her first two games of the contest, Gibbs was not prepared to surrender a third as she saved a break point before sealing a comprehensive 6-0, 6-2 win over Smitkova.
A Look at the Final Match Statistics
Despite not having overwhelmingly impressive serving statistics overall, Gibbs was most dominant on the receiving end, breaking six times and winning 61% of her return points, a significantly different comparison to Smitkova’s dismal serving statistics that included only 57% of points won behind her first serve and 17% behind her second.